Don’t let the armageddon get you down! 2017 was one helluva mind bender- between the unbelievable non-stop shenanigans coming from the Trump white house, the re-emboldening of white supremacist nationalists, a slew of natural disasters, and the slightly unsettling development of North Korean intercontinental nuclear warheads, there were plenty of reasons to want to run for the hills. Thankfully, the greatest blessing of my life came in the form of a healthy, happy and ridiculously cute daughter, and then I got to witness the tipping point of the #MeToo movement swell into a tsunami of cultural resistance, which seems to be shaping our future into a place much more respectful and safe for women & girls. My time for digging up new music (& for doing just about every other extra-curricular activity) was drastically shortened, but that’s just part of being grown and I will get a handle on it eventually. Even still, I managed to glean enough to keep this place alive (limping along, but still moving!), and this new mix I put together for BrooklynRadio.com highlights some of my absolute favorite finds of the year. Artists you may recognize include: Nadastrom, Jubilee, Populous, LCD Soundsystem, Todd Terje and of course a couple Capt. Planet joints as well. So press play and let’s all set some positive intentions to manifest in 2018, cause this world needs all the help it can get right now. Photo above was taken in Ojai, California by Robin Catherine Lawson after the recent Thomas Fire which devastated almost 450 square miles (biggest in CA history). Full tracklist and download available on the Brooklyn Radio page.

Happy holidays everyone. It’s been pretty quiet over here since I have been in the middle of a move (woohoo!) and am building my new studio (triple woohoo!!!). I’ve got a new mix coming shortly, and tons of good tracks to share, but for now, I’m happy to announce the release of Night Visions Remixed on Bastard Jazz Records. It was a long while in the works, but I managed to wrangle a talented cadre of producer homies into remixing songs from my last album with Chico Mann. A nice variety of styles and sounds in the set, but this rootsy Colombian flavored joint from my boy Yukicito is just gorgeous. We also included one new original song “Ariwoko” as a bonus track, available as a FREE DOWNLOAD. Grab it while it’s hot or press play at your next ugly sweater party and pour another cup of egg nog for me!

Happy to share this heavy future-bass dancefloor destroyer with you all today. I cooked this up for my homies Young Futura (hip hop / electronic duo) who you all should get familiar with! I posted the original version of Slide a while back, but this flip takes it into peak party time territory. A little something unexpected from the Captain Planet signature style, but you know how I like to keep everyone on their toes. It’s a free download, so snag it while it’s hot.

WOWOWOW so much heavy music to drop on you all today! This is exciting. There are still things to be optimistic and hopeful about in this crazy world, let this musical brain candy be the proof! We start things off with a nasty slab of Nigerian 80’s disco funk, then a mind melting Turkish edit from the don dada Señor Terje. Up next a deep Moroccan Gnawa edit, followed by the latest existential dancefloor rant from one of my favorite contemporary bands. We take you to Angola, then back to Istanbul, then to the front pew in the gospel chapel of your dreams. Afroqbano comes through with a nasty late night twist on a 90’s classic, and my man Moon Boots smooths it out with a joint from his new album. The house music vibe is in full swing with a heater from J Worra followed with another classic re-interpreted by my brother from another Nickodemus. Then we drop the tempo down with something soulful from Blasko and finish it all with an absolutely beautiful new tune from the Nadastrom boys. May these soundwaves inspire you to be creative like Eric Junker, who is responsible for the funky truck pictured above. Also extra special shoutout to my dear homie and unofficial mentor DJ Busquelo who hooked me up with a few of these joints from his coveted collection.

Very happy to be sharing this new remix I did for my supremely talented homie Alsarah. I look for any opportunity to let loose my unabashed love of electro-chaabi music, but unfortunately they don’t come around very often. This remix of mine dropped on Wonderwheel Recordings a couple of weeks back but I didn’t even have a chance to properly promote it due to all the other things going on. The entire collection is solid with great work from iZem, Oddisee, DJ Khalab, El Búho and more. Take a listen and then go grab the whole bunch.

Man oh man. There’s an overwhelming abundance of reasons to feel helpless today, but I am making a major effort to keep that radical glimmer of hope alive. Another mass shooting and all the talking heads keep saying how unlikely it is that we gun-crazed Americans, with so many of our gov’t officials under the NRA’s thumb, will make even a single piece of control legislation pass. And even as the rising scale of global-warming induced storm surges continue to blast our country into devastation, we have a leader who refuses to accept science. The list could certainly go on because there are a million dark realities that are making me upset, but today (and for the past week) my heart is really going out to Puerto Rico. It’s just crazy to me that the situation does not seem to be getting better. The way the entire population is being treated like 3rd class citizens, with not nearly enough mainstream media coverage to help gather sufficient relief, has me feeling like Lin-Manuel Miranda. I suppose it is relevant that my musical career was built largely with music from this special island, and from descendants who claim this place. I’ve been lucky to have several trips there over the years, which helped me get a better grasp on why a relatively tiny island can have such a huge cultural impact worldwide. Anyway, today I’m sharing some music from Puerto Ricans, from oldies to brand new. I also recommend making any kind of donation to help the relief effort.